“Maps can be seen as truth”: Why Indigenous communities are using digital mapping to defend their land

Why It Matters

GIS mapping superimposes layers of data about a location over a digital map to reveal trends and gaps in an area. For social purpose organizations working at local or regional levels, this information can be critical in driving awareness and funding towards specific communities’ challenges.

Are homelessness prevention schemes actually working? To find out, we need more person-specific data, experts say

Why It Matters

Data can give shelters greater transparency on who is using their services, but there is still a severe lack of information about some of the reasons that people become homeless in the first instance. That means that at present, data is mainly helping the sector ‘react’ to those experiencing homelessness, rather than actively moving to prevent it.

New

Here’s the new online portal that is building awareness around giving and volunteering data in Canada

Why It Matters

For years, charities and non-profits have had to interpret raw Statistics Canada data on their own. Increased access to in-depth analysis allows organizations to better access and utilize scarce resources.

Finding real-time data on Canada’s charitable sector is impossible. This major research project will change that.

Why It Matters

There is plenty of data about the charitable sector, but it is rarely published in real-time – making it impossible for policymakers, funders and charity leaders to understand crucial trends.

Three ways COVID response could have been better with (more) disaggregated data

Why It Matters

Disaggregated data makes the intersectional nature of the COVID-19 pandemic painfully obvious, but many social purpose organizations don’t have access to critical information – or don’t know what to do with it.